St. Frances X. Cabrini Parishioners Ordered To Vacate Church

SCITUATE (CBS) -- The Boston Archdiocese is giving parishioners in Scituate until Monday to leave St. Frances X. Cabrini church or face legal action.

A group of parishioners has held vigil at the church for the last 10 years, after the archdiocese ordered it closed as part of its 2004 reconfiguration.

"We're not going anywhere," said Jon Rogers of The Friends Of St. Frances.

Even without a priest, services are still held every Sunday. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the church is occupied. Parishioners stay overnight in pairs.

The Archdiocese says all of the group's appeals to the Vatican have been denied and there's no further recourse.

"We don't want to have a confrontation with them," Archdiocese spokesman Terry Donilon said. "We've been very patient."

But Rogers says a pontifical council in Rome is reviewing the case. They're prepared to go to trial, if it comes to that.

"We've retained counsel and we vow to fight as we have from day one through the use of civil and canonical appeals," Rogers said.

Rogers' group says the archdiocese has tried to commandeer the church and its 30 acres to replenish its coffers depleted by a clergy sex abuse scandal.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports: 

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